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Needle-turn Applique Tips – Part 4

Now that you have your pieces cut out and your stems made, it’s time to lay out the design and ready it for stitching.  

Tip #1

Most patterns have photos or diagrams to help with the layout of the design. My tip for getting the placement you want is simple. Fold your background to create subtle creases, almost like a grid. You can use these creases to help in laying out the design. You can also use rulers to find the center of your background.

Tip #2

To make sure your no part of your applique motif gets stitched into the seam allowance, mark a line 1/2″ in all the way around the background. That helps to define the stitching area. I do 1/2″ so my design is at least 1/4″ away from where the seam will be.

Tip #3

Use other applique pieces as a guide in placing stems.  Stems are usually the first thing stitched on a project. But you don’t want to just guess where they go and risk having your whole design off center or have a stem covered by another piece when it’s not supposed to be. Below, I needed to make sure my center stem was placed where I want it, so I use the flower pot piece as a guide. I also use the ruler to make sure the stem is centered.

Now I can use my glue to glue the stem in place for stitching. Then I can remove the flower pot piece until I’m ready to stitch that into place. Below is how my background looks with all the stems in place ready to stitch.

Tip #4

If an applique piece is made up of pieces stitched one on top of another, it’s easier to stitch those together before stitching it to the background. For example, the medallion piece below has 4 pieces.

Start by stitching the blue circle to the green background, then add the star and finally, the small red circle. Then this whole medallion can be stitched in one piece onto the background.

Tip #5

When multiple pieces make up an applique piece (like above) it’s good practice to cut away excess fabric from inside the seam allowance each time you layer a piece. That way the finished unit is not too bulky when it comes time to quilt. Here’s the back of the medallion piece above that shows how I trimmed away the excess fabric:

So now that I gave you my tips on layout and stitching, below is a video showing these layout tips. 

Come back next week for a step by step walk through of the applique stitch and stitching points and inside corners. Leave a comment and be entered into a drawing for my pattern, Sweet Harmony:

Drawing will be Monday, October 21st.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Applique Tips Part 3 – Making Stems

So now that you have the leaves, flowers and other templates traced and ready to go, it’s time to make stems. I like to cover making stems because so many applique projects include floral motifs that have stems in the design. 

Tip#1

The type of strip you cut depends on whether your stems need to curve or if they are straight. The photo on the left is of a project with curved stems and the one on the right has straight stems.

For straight stems, cut straight strips. For stems you need to shape into curves, you’ll want to cut strips on the bias. If your project has both straight and curved stems, you can use all bias strips if you like. Here’s how to cut bias strips:

First, lay out your chosen stem fabric on your cutting mat as shown and align the 45° line of your long (24″) ruler with the bottom of the fabric (the arrow in the photo is pointing to the 45° line):

Now, using the rotary cutter, make your first cut. Then measure and cut out the amount of strips you need. If you need stems longer than the strips produced, you may have to stitch a few strips together before preparing them into stems.

Cut your strips 1/2″ wider than your desired stem width. For example, if you want 1/4″ stems, cut your strips 3/4″ wide.

Tip#2

To prepare the strips into stems, you have to fold in the strip on both long sides. You can do this by hand, but I prefer to use a bias making tool: 

To use the tool, you slide one end of the strip into the wider end and pull it out the other end. As you are pulling it out, iron the strip to get the sides to stay folded over.

Here’s your stem!

Tip #3

If I am making several stems for a project, I like to use a few dots of Roxanne’s Glue Baste-it to keep the sides folded over.

Tip #4

Unless the stems are on top of any part of the applique motif, it’s best to position them on the background and get them stitched in place first before adding any more of the design onto the background. 

Below is my video tutorial on making stems. 

 

There’s still time to enter the drawing! I will be drawing a winner for my pattern, High Prairie Blooms, on Friday October 4th. Comment below to be entered.

Never fear though…. the applique tips posts are not ending yet! Come back next week for laying out the design and stitching. ***We have a winner! Congrats, Ariel K.!***

Happy Quilting!
Deanne